Readers' comments

Vietnam has the poor cultivation plans. The wars she has seen allows little innovations and the Vietnamese while are proud ( All are proud like Su of Myanmar but who is helping her now?) We have left the Far East in one corner and are always chasing western side of the zone and where are we today, Same place economy flat, jobless more, knife throwing more more deaths all around by the drones killing innocents. Vietnam went through that stage and with what ever she has the population is trying Read on from the net is the easternmost country on theIndochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 87.8 million inhabitants as of 2011, it is the world's 13th-most-populous country, and the eighth-most-populous Asian country. The name Vietnam translates as "South Viet", and was officially adopted in 1945. The country is bordered by China to the north, Laosto the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east. Its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976. The Vietnamese became independent from Imperial China in 938 AD, following the Battle of Bạch Đằng River. Successive Vietnamese royal dynasties flourished as the nation expanded geographically and politically into Southeast Asia, until the Indochina Peninsula was colonized by the French in the mid-19th century. The First Indochina War eventually led to the expulsion of the French in 1954, leaving Vietnam divided politically into two states, North and South Vietnam. Conflict between the two sides intensified, with heavy foreign intervention, during the Vietnam War, which ended with a North Vietnamese victory in 1975. Vietnam was then unified under a Communist government, but was politically isolated and impoverished. In 1986, the government initiated a series of economic and political reforms, which began Vietnam's path towards integration into the world economy.[8] By 2000, it had established diplomatic relations with most nations. Its economic growth has been among the highest in the world since 2000,[8] and according to Citigroup, such high growth is set to continue. Vietnam has the highest Global Growth Generators Index among 11 major economies,[9] and its successful economic reforms resulted in it joining the World Trade Organization in 2007. However, the country still suffers from relatively high levels of income inequality, disparities in healthcare provision, and poor gender equality I thank you Firozali A.Mulla

Vietnam economy is on the way to a tough uphill ride and it must do all it can to complete this journey otherwise the only way is downhill. Corruption must be addressed with full force of law with no spare policy plus laws must be eased to allow quality foreign investment in the all sectors of the economy. Past growth trends will be difficult to maintain but policies must be put in place to create slow but sustainable growth if Vietnam has to remain a Tiger economy in the next decades to come. Political opening is another necessity and the next power struggle among the communist rulers of Vietnam if any might derail the economic growths for some time to come.

"It enriches a few bosses but saddles the state enterprises with enormous debts for which, in the end, the government is liable".
Who is the government? If the government is liable, then the Prime Minister is liable? He has to pay these debts? It's not him, but the Vietnamese who must finally pay.
Thus, it must be: "It enriches the Prime Minister, officials and a few bosses ... but in the end, the Vietnamese are liable".
And finally, I agree with Mr. Nguyen Quang A that "the governing system of Vietnam doesn't work, due to corruption and the existence of the cronysm system or "econo-political mafia network" in Vietnam. This governing system must be changed as soon as possible.

I am amazed at the speed with which the Vietnamese economy tanked. Apparently China's is a horror story too, if you can get reliable information about it (which you can't). My Malaysian friend says don't even ask about what goes on in his country, but he has moved all his savings (and his family) to the UK, so you get the picture.

I am amazed that your Malaysian friend after living In a country with 5% GDP growth, with one of the lowest unemployment and national debt in the the world would move to a country which is in recession and with rising unemployment. His saving is neither here nor there to the Malaysian economy because Malaysia's FDI percapita, is one of the highest in the world. For his business acumen, I am sure his money is safe and will multiply in his new country.

Zeti Akhtar, the governor of Bank Negara, the Central Bank of Malaysia, has been voted as one of the top five central bank governors in the world for three year in a row. She would not be voted as such if she produces unreliable statistics. You may check the statistics and indices on the last page of The Economist to see the health of Malaysian economy . Malaysia would not be the secong biggest property investor in Britain if its economy is bad. The Malaysian banks and pension funds are flushed with money and a sick and wobbly Britain seems to be a good buy. It is a way to get back at its own colonial master.

zeti Akhtar, the governor of Bank Negara, the central bank of Malaysia, has been voted as one of the top five central bank governors in the world for three years in a row. she would not be voted as such if her bank produces unreliable statistics.
There is nothing wrong to subsidise the taxi drivers. Other countries also give subsidies to their people.
The money from the petrol is used to build infrastructures, which are comparable to any developed nations. Have a look at Malaysia's airport, ports and highways.
As for Mongolian Model, i will not get involved in tittle tattle.

Subsidies of any sort distorts and hurts the market fundamentals. It makes taxi fare may be too high or too low. It makes taxi business inefficient. It's a waste of national resources because such resource may be invested more efficiently in other business.

So, I wonder why you say that "there's nothing wrong to subsidise the taxi drivers"???

Many rich Malaysians corrupt or otherwise, have moved massive amount of money abroad to speculate on Real estates. If they are right and mostly, they will be proven right, they and their families will not have to work a sweat again. But avoid France - where the rich Viets tend to flock and where Hollande dude wants to tax 75% on the Rich's incomes.

I think the rich Viets not only flock to France, but also to the US, Australia and Britain.

France is the place where Viet talents flock to, Ngo Bao Chau who was "incubated" in France but is now working in the US - the Vietnamese Fields medal winner is a striking case. Besides, there're several talented Viet scientists who were awarded hornored medals by the government of France, including Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur.